Advice, getting back into it

5'8, 185.....? Jeez stop doubling up on the canisters of Pringles & bacon dip, Bruno!

Maybe it's the holidaze......but this Forum has gone soft or something; abnormally (which is considered normal here on the SI Forum), you'd get your chubby man-boobies lit up for posting your innocent ways.

There's a wackadoodle frequent poster on SI Forum who lives with his rapist dog in a barn in Maine who'd suit you up in latex in a heartbeat.

Words to the wise. Don't worry about longboard or short board. Work that lard off, son. You don't want to be the figurative fella with the bit in his mouth & kneeling over a fitness ball , now do ya...?

 

I rented boards for awhile. This gave me a chance to get a feel for what I wanted and what was comfortable. Gotta make sure you know when the shop opens or closes.
This way I got to try out a fe w before dropping several hundred dollars on something I might not like.

 

Why go to a longboard? I think you would have a much better time with something a little smaller. Get yourself a nice funshape. Maybe a thinned out 6'4" - 6'6" extra wide, fat round nose with a thin wide thruster tail with some rocker.

A shape like this will allow you to get into more waves like a long board yet you will still be able to jam on it! It will give you the ease of a longboard with the speed and turns like a shortboard. Also a shape like this will be less cumbersome and paddling out and duck diving will be a lot easier.

I think this should be plenty big enough but if you need to go a little bigger then maybe a 6'8" - 7'2" but I wouldn't go any bigger than that. However long you go try to still keep it wide and thinned out. I had a board shaped exactly like this for my son and he absolutely loves it! He has a longboard and a shortboard also which he never rides anymore because he says that this board is the combo of both those and is much more fun.

Also a board like this is very versatile in all conditions. If you go with a longboard you are going to be limiting yourself to about a 3' - 5' swell. A nice funshape/fish will allow you to surf any condition, especially when it gets bigger and hollows out.

Make sure to find a good local shaper. Tell him what you want, your surfing ability and also where you mainly surf.

 

Brah- you will not go wrong with the longboard. If you have not been out in a while you will enjoy the log- specially if you paddle out at a good surf break, like Belmar,NJ where the water is always a little warmer then anywhere else...

Btw you will become a senior member too soon once you post like 100 times...

#belmarseniormemberclub

 

You did the right thing getting the LB, don't listen to anybody that says you'll be limited on that board. You can surf a LB in well overhead waves if you get good enough, and you can certainly rip on one too. But definitely get the fish too, you'll want the option to switch it up and going back and forth, and that will help your surfing so much more, just like it did for me.

 

Best advice so far immediately above ". . . Don't listen to anybody .. . "

What a lot of advice! Get a long short boogie board with a five fin quad thruster setup and a leash, but don't use the leash.

 

I'm 5'9" and 200 lbs. Got a 6'5" (2 3/4 thick) Quad fish about 7 yrs ago. Got me back into shortboards big time. Proboably could have gone an inch or two shorter, but wanted to make sure it would work. JUst picked up a 6'0 ...Lost Monkfish Quad last spring, and ride both boards on a regular basis. Longboard has been collecting dust.

Was also in my mid 30s when I got the 6'5". For me, if you have a little patience, the quad fish is the way to go.

 

This is why I keep an eye on craigslist. Buy something cheap thats in good shape, surf it, and sell it for the same $$.

 

#youra***
#belmarbiggestontheeastcoast.